Utility of PET/CT in differentiating benign from malignant adrenal nodules in patients with cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of combined PET/CT in differentiating benign from malignant adrenal nodules measuring at least 1 cm in diameter in patients with cancer.


METHODS
We reviewed the radiology reports and images of patients with known malignant disease who had undergone PET/CT for cancer staging or surveillance and who had adrenal nodules at least 1 cm in diameter. We identified 112 adrenal nodules in 96 patients. Two-dimensional PET had been performed 1 hour after administration of (18)F-FDG. Unenhanced CT was performed for attenuation correction, to determine lesion size, and for coregistration with PET data. Adrenal nodules were considered to have a positive PET result if the average standardized uptake value was greater than that of the liver. Follow-up data and biopsy reports were used to determine the pathologic status of the adrenal nodules.


RESULTS
Thirty adrenal lesions were malignant. Twenty-five of the 30 malignant nodules had positive PET results. Twelve of 82 benign nodules were PET positive with a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 85.4%. Patients with four of five malignant nodules with negative PET results had received previous therapy. The positive predictive value for detection of malignant lesions was 67%, and the negative predictive value was 93%.


CONCLUSIONS
Adrenal masses that are not FDG avid are likely to be benign with a high negative predictive value. Especially in patients undergoing therapy, however, there is a small but statistically significant false-negative rate. A considerable proportion of benign nodules have increased FDG activity.
Vikram
Raghunandan
R
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 1350, Houston, TX 77030-4009, USA. rvikram@mdanderson.org
Yeung
Henry D W
HD
Macapinlac
Homer A
HA
Iyer
Revathy B
RB
D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18